
Simms Taback, Illustration for Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2005 Simms Taback.
Simms Taback
Simms Taback’s (1932–2011) irrepressible humor, love of folk art, and background in graphic design shine through in his lively and meticulously crafted compositions. Born in New York City, Taback was a prolific illustrator, writer, and graphic designer. He graduated from Cooper Union and later taught at the School of Visual Arts and Syracuse University. After serving in the U.S. Army, he worked as an art director at The New York Times and Columbia Records. Taback wrote and illustrated over 40 children’s books, many featuring new and retold tales from his Eastern European Jewish heritage, including the Caldecott Medal-winning Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (1999) and Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me (2005). His mixed-media collages display bold, bright colors, clever die-cut holes, and high attention to detail.
In 2014, to celebrate Taback’s gift of nearly 400 illustrations from his picture books, the Museum organized the exhibition Simms Taback: Art by Design.

Simms Taback, Illustration for There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1997 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustrations for There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1997 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustrations for There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1997 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1997 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for When I First Came to this Land by Harriet Ziefert (Scholastic). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1998 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for When I First Came to this Land by Harriet Ziefert (Scholastic). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1998 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Joseph had a Little Overcoat (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1999 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Joseph had a Little Overcoat (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1999 Simms Taback.

Among the many details in this scene from Taback’s Caldecott-winning book, he includes photographic collage portraits of the great Yiddish storyteller Sholem Aleichem and the Yiddish theater actress Molly Picon.
Simms Taback, Illustration for Joseph had a Little Overcoat (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 1999 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for This is the House that Jack Built (Puffin). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2002 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for This is the House that Jack Built (Puffin). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2002 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for This is the House that Jack Built (Puffin). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2002 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2005 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2005 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2005 Simms Taback.

Taback’s colorful cityscape matches his protagonist’s colorful imagination, a girl who dreams up creative ways to “mail” herself to the person she misses. With deliberate childlike simplicity, Taback includes a delightful array of details, playfully exploiting the voyeurism of urban living.
Simms Taback, Illustration for I Miss You Every Day (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2007 Simms Taback.

Taback’s colorful cityscape matches his protagonist’s colorful imagination, a girl who dreams up creative ways to “mail” herself to the person she misses. With deliberate childlike simplicity, Taback includes a delightful array of details, playfully exploiting the voyeurism of urban living.
Simms Taback, Illustration for I Miss You Every Day (Viking). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2007 Simms Taback.

Humor and hyperbole characterize Taback’s fictional series of letters between a father and his son, who is at sleep-away camp. Taback cleverly collaged actual U.S. postage stamps—one of a great gray owl and a saw whet owl—to lend authenticity to the correspondence.
Simms Taback, Illustration for Postcards From Camp (Nancy Paulsen Books). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2011 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Postcards From Camp (Nancy Paulsen Books). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2011 Simms Taback.

Simms Taback, Illustration for Postcards From Camp (Nancy Paulsen Books). Gift of Simms Taback & Family. © 2011 Simms Taback.